SAN DIEGO — Pregnancies in 51% of 155 women surveyed after laparoscopic tubal reconstructive surgery suggest a success rate comparable with that seen after laparotomy to repair tubes, Dr. Liselotte Mettler said at an international congress of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons.
The responses came from 195 women who were sent questionnaires in June 2003, after undergoing laparoscopic tubal surgery during the period between 2000 and 2002. The surgeries were performed by two ob.gyn. specialists and five residents at one institution to treat ectopic pregnancy, unilateral or bilateral tubal occlusions, or tubes needing alteration, she said.
Six of eight patients who underwent tubal end-to-end anastomoses became pregnant after the tubal reversals, for a 75% success rate, “which I think is pretty good,” said Dr. Mettler of the University of Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany.
The surgeries also included 64 salpingotomies, 74 salpingectomies, 25 salpingostomies, and 24 fimbrioplasties.